Japan Student Services Organisation (JASSO), a Japanese public agency, recently published their latest statistics on the number of Japanese university and national institutes of technology students studying in overseas institutions, either through institutional exchange agreements or their own arrangements. The JASSO statistics are the results from a 2013 survey of Japanese universities and national institutes of technology which included the number of students studying abroad for any period, from less than one month to over a year.

Key findings:

  • The number of Japanese students studying in the UK through institutional exchange agreements in 2013 was 3,993, up by 7.6% compared to 2012
  • The number of Japanese students studying in the UK by their own arrangements (not through institutional agreements) in 2013 was 2,596, up by 30.7% compared to 2012.


The results show a continuous growth in the number of the Japanese students who study in UK institutions as exchange and visiting students since 2010. It can be said that this trend has resulted from the Japanese government’s investment in the internationalisation of the Japanese universities and the increase in student mobility via the Global 30 and Go Global Japan initiatives. This trend is expected to continue with the launch of the Top Global University Project (https://education-services.britishcouncil.org/news/market-news/%E2%80%9Ctop-global-universities%E2%80%9D-announced).

Analysis:

The JASSO results are a strong indicator of the further growth in demand for short-term (from less than a month up to a year) university programmes for Japanese students. Establishing partnerships with Japanese universities is currently one of the most effective ways for UK institutions to recruit students from Japan. Although the length of their stay will be short, the recruitment of such students can potentially be important.We have, for instance, witnessed many cases of UK alumni who had positive experiences as exchange and visiting students at UK universities returning to the same institutions again as postgraduate students.